I just got through testing my new RRA Match Trigger setup. The Rock River Arms upgrade trigger "kit" is 2 piece design instead of a 3 piece like the stock AR15 trigger setup. Installation difficulty is a 3 on a 1-10 scale and takes around 15 minutes to install. A derlin punch is very helpful in pin alignment and will make the job alot easier on you and the gun.

The kit comes with Hammer, trigger assy, and 2 new oversized pins.

After cleaning everything up and replacing the upper half on the rifle, the first thing I noticed when charging the rifle with this trigger was a noticably louder "CLICK" when the hammer sets. Along with the click comes a little added pressure on the charging handle. The 1st stage of the trigger action is smooth and short. The actual break feels somewhere around 4lbs - 4.5lbs, though I don't have a trigger pull guage to know for sure. It is a lot heavier than I imagined in any case, and a LOT heavier than the Chip McCormick Single Stage to 'break'.

It can be best described as a a slightly lighter pull trigger than stock wnd the same feel of stock with the exception of the 2 stage action.

So would I recommend it? No. Don't get me wrong, it is a good trigger and seems to be made with quality materials, but for the $95.00 or so dollars spent you end up with a 'stock' feeling 2 stage trigger. It doesn't have a smooth seamless break that you'd expect from a match trigger instead what you do get is a 2 stage trigger that feels like it belongs on a battle rifle, NOT a target gun. I'm sure this trigger will smoothen out after I break it in a bit, but I don't expect a drastic improvement to the over all feel.

Something good did result in this test though. I discovered that I'm a Single Stage AR man. I don't like the 2 stage trigger on the AR and will only use Single Stage trigger from now on.

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CJan_NH [Team Member]

2/15/2005 10:59:13 PM EDT

Well, if your RRA trigger is like some of the others (one of mine included) you won't have to sweat the heavy second stage for very long. One of my RRA triggers transformed itself into a very light single stage after a few hundred rounds.

Oddly enough my other RRA two-stage of identical age and vintage has gone a couple thousand rounds and has stayed exactly the same.

Go figure

Supposedly the (White Oak?) tuned RRA two-stages are much better. After my first RRA went belly up I went to KAC and haven't looked back.

Atreides [Member]

2/15/2005 11:19:51 PM EDT

That's good to know CJan, thanks.

I'm just writing down my first impressions on the trigger. I don't want anyone to think I'm bashing this trigger, I'm not. I got it, and I WILL use it and don't feel as though I need to change it back or get another. I will pay attention to how the trigger breaks in though, thanks. So far it has 120 rounds on it. I thought it would loosen up a little, but so far: not one bit.

Lumpy196 [Team Member]

2/15/2005 11:21:19 PM EDT

Mine did the same. I know there are supposedly fixes for it, but I dont stone trigger surfaces.

Atreides [Member]

2/15/2005 11:30:39 PM EDT

I hear you Lumpy.

It isn't like the trigger is BAD...it's not. And, it is totally passible in stock form. I could polish it up, (like 1911 triggers need sometimes...mainly hammers & sears, not really the trigger) but there's no real NEED to do that with this trigger. It is what it is. I'm sorta pleased in a way cause my rifle still has a 'work horse' feel to it.

swingset [Team Member]

2/15/2005 11:33:21 PM EDT

Originally Posted By Lumpy196:Mine did the same. I know there are supposedly fixes for it, but I dont stone trigger surfaces.

Jeweler's Rouge is a good compromise to stoning the surfaces, and works without eating into the hardening if you go slow and gentle with a buffing wheel. You can really clean up a trigger without compromising its surface.

I have many many thousands of rounds on my triggers that have been polished and have never suffered detrimental effects of that treatment, nor do I expect to.

Lumpy196 [Team Member]

2/15/2005 11:38:30 PM EDT

I just shoot the shit out of them

Its not smoothing the RRA needs, its changes in the angles to adapt it the particular host reciever. Apparently its a fine line witht he parts as they come from RRA. Like others, it only took a couple hundred rounds for mine to turn into a mushy single stage.

Atreides [Member]

2/16/2005 12:39:15 AM EDT

Oh that's not happy! LOL!

I'll jot this one down as a learning experience After trying this and the Chip McCormick trigger out, I can honestly tell a fellow Newbies that there are better ways of spending your money than a "Match" trigger...that is, unless you are going to actually shoot matches. These triggers do make a difference guys, but you are better off spending the money on bullets and getting used to your new AR.

After trying these triggers out I have a new found fondness for the stock trigger...after a few hundred rounds are put through it of course. Your stock trigger gets smoother after a while. You might not notice so much because it happens over a period of time, but it does happen. I grabbed my original AR and put in some dry fire time (using snap caps of course) to get a feel of the difference between it (stock) and the RRA & CM triggers. The stock trigger isn't so bad...not at all. I haven't done any mods to the stock unit (Polishing or playing with the springs) and now I do not feel the need to. It's broken in nice...it does have a very little creep to it, and not as crisp a break as the CM single stage, but a slightly less crisper break than the RRA.

Spend your money on other stuff before you spend your cookies on a trigger. A Match trigger is nice to have, but it is no where near a 'must have' for your AR in my humble opinion.

tangeant [Member]

2/16/2005 12:51:29 AM EDT

The RRA/Armalite 2 stage triggers really need to be tuned. Sometimes they drop in and don't need it but most of the time they do. They leave alot of creep by design to compensate for the recvr trigger pin hole tolerances. To get a nice crisp 2nd stage let off you will have to stone the hammer hook to decrease sear engagement, if you lose 2nd stage thru normal wear or stoning too much you will have too stone the disconnector to increase engagement.

Atreides [Member]

2/16/2005 1:31:02 AM EDT

Thanks Tangeant!

My RRA trigger is working perfectly. The pull is heavier than I thought it would be, but there's no creep before the break. Guess I lucked out.

metroplex [Member]

2/16/2005 4:06:27 AM EDT

After awhile, your fancy new RRA 2-stage will become a 1 stage.

I just kept the stock single stage FCG. After time it only gets better.

drshame [Member]

2/16/2005 4:10:50 AM EDT

Easy Answer:

Take it out, send it over to WOA and John Holliger, and let him do his magic.

When he's done, it will break smooth as glass and stay that way. Is it as light as a highly adjsutible Jewell costing 4 times as much? Of course not. But for most any serious target work, its fine...always there as expected.

'Nuff said.

eklikwhoa [Team Member]

2/16/2005 4:22:51 AM EDT

i got the woa rra and its much nicer than the regular one.

i also have the regular one and it hasnt lost its two stage

after a couple thousand rounds i think it got smoother.

DOA [Team Member]

2/16/2005 4:40:55 AM EDT

I just got the Chip SS trigger and so far Im impressed. Crisp clean break with no creep and very little rearward movement after the trigger has gone off.

BookHound [Team Member]

2/16/2005 4:41:37 AM EDT

Once again I feel like the luckiest guy on earth. I've got two RRA two-stage triggers and have never had a problem with either. Both rifles have a few thousand rounds through them. Both triggers have a nice break. Guess I just got lucky.

Sargeshobbies [Member]

2/16/2005 4:59:52 AM EDT

The RRA 2-stage triggers seem to be a hit or miss. I had one that had a super light second stage with a nice crisp break, and then I had one that was absolutely terrible. I even put JP light springs on it and it still had a very hard second stage, it felt like it was 3-4 lbs. It sucked so I took it out.I personally probably would'nt buy another one, for the money they are decent but I am probably leaning towards a Chip McCormick 2-stage for my SAM-R build.

eklikwhoa [Team Member]

2/16/2005 5:10:32 AM EDT

Originally Posted By Sargeshobbies:The RRA 2-stage triggers seem to be a hit or miss. I had one that had a super light second stage with a nice crisp break, and then I had one that was absolutely terrible. I even put JP light springs on it and it still had a very hard second stage, it felt like it was 3-4 lbs. It sucked so I took it out.I personally probably would'nt buy another one, for the money they are decent but I am probably leaning towards a Chip McCormick 2-stage for my SAM-R build.

i just got one of these and think that the rra tuned by woa in my opinion is smooterh

Forward_Assist [Member]

2/16/2005 6:54:53 AM EDT

The Rock River is a match trigger design for service rifle match use, to be legal, they cannot be less then 4.5 lbs. You cannot compare match triggers to so called target triggers that can be 2lbs or even less. Rock did have the problems of losing the second stage as stated when they came out. Since then the problem has been addressed and they are great for what they were intended for and no longer will lose there second stage.